Jihad Claims It Abducted 3 In Beirut

March 18, 1985

BEIRUT — The fundamentalist Islamic Jihad movement has claimed responsibility for kidnapping an American and two Britons last week and warned all foreigners in Lebanon to refrain from subversive activities.

In Damascus, Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam canceled plans today to travel to Beirut for talks with President Amin Gemayel on the demands of breakaway Christian militiamen for a greater role in Lebanon`s government.

A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad, or Holy War, telephoned a Western news agency late Sunday to say the group had seized American newsman Terry Anderson and two British nationals and removed them from the Beirut area.

The Arabic-speaking caller said the three were abducted during a campaign to clear Beirut of ``spies living amongst us,`` and issued a ``final warning`` for foreigners to avoid involvement in ``subversive activities.``

``The detention of Terry Anderson, Brian Levick and Geoffrey Nash comes within the framework of our continuous operations against America and its agents,`` said the man, who did not identify himself.

Anderson, the Middle East chief correspondent and Beirut bureau chief for The Associated Press, was seized Saturday in mainly Moslem west Beirut.

Anderson`s father, Glenn Anderson, told ABC`s Good Morning America show that he had heard no new developments on the whereabouts of his son.